WRITERS ON THE SPOT
What do you write? Whether the question comes from the person next to you in the grocery line or from an agent or editor at a conference, a brief description of your book that grabs attention may result in a sale or a contract.
Having made several pitches at recent conferences, H.B. Berlow, president of the Kansas Writers Association, shared his experience and knowledge of standard and high concept pitches at KWA’s July 21st meeting. After a brief presentation of the elements of pitching to agents and editors, he threw out a spur-of-the-moment challenge for members to pitch their book in one minute. Authors had ten minutes to prepare their pitch. They then allowed Keyhole Conversations to video their efforts.
Our hats are off to those seven authors who were put on the spot and brave enough to respond to the challenge.
This video is the first in a new three-part series on pitches that were filmed at the KWA meeting. Our first two authors are Makayla Yokley (writer of steam punk novels) and April Pameticky (writer of young adult fantasy).
About Makayla Yokley
Makayla Yokley is a sophomore at Butler County Community College. She recently published The Ruby Curse, her first steam punk novel. Visit her website here
About April Pameticky
April Pameticky received her MFA from WSU in 2006 and became swirled up in the Wichita vortex. The birth of her daughter has given her new eyes, and her day-gig as a middle school teacher keeps her fresh and grounded. While she enjoys writing for her middle school audience, her first love is poetry. Her work can be seen in Mikrokosmos, Naked City, Chiron Review, and Poetry4theMasses. Her first chapbook collection, Sandriver and Other Places I’ve Been, is currently under consideration at Finishing Line Press. She is also working on a YA paranormal suspense novella, Whirling Waters. Read more and see samples of her work.
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A standard pitch includes the book’s title and genre, a hook (point that grabs the audience), a cliff hanger, and an indication of where the book fits with others that have been published. All of this must be presented in one minute or less. Listen for these points as you watch the video.
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Thanks to vintagefeedsacks for the use of their images.
Explore posts in the same categories: KWA PRACTICE PITCHESTags: April Pameticky, high concept pitches, Kansas Writers Association, Keyhole Conversations, Makayla Yokley, The Ruby Curse
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Keyhole Conversations 
August 4, 2012 at 3:24 pm
Wow! Excellent work and another excellent post!
August 4, 2012 at 4:52 pm
Thanks for stopping by, Webgoji, and thanks so much for taking the time to comment. Authors are so much fun to work with. We have a lot of neat ideas in the queue, so take a minute to subscribe next time around. We wouldn’t want you to miss even one exciting post. (big grin)
Bonnie J.–
August 5, 2012 at 9:51 pm
This is REALLY beneficial. It’s one thing to pitch, then get comments and/or critiques. But it is a much more refined approach for the writer to watch themselves (however horrendous that may be) to pick up on the finer points of their pitch. It is a necessary evil in the world of publishing, so why NOT do anything you can to perfect it? I can’t wait to watch the rest of the series. (Yes, I KNOW I was there but this is so much more fun.)